


The Strongest Tsurugi

by parisique



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Past Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25779541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parisique/pseuds/parisique
Summary: Kagami Tsurugi is strong. She’s a strong fencer, according to M. D’Argencourt - or decent, according to her mother. She’s a strong student, according to her tutors, and it’s a point that her mother agrees with, though just barely. She’s a strong friend, according to Marinette, and the word feels more familiar every time she says it.Kagami Tsurugi is strong. She’s lived through lots of things, and she’ll live through many more. So if Adrien Agreste comes to her with serious eyes and the words “I think we should talk,” Kagami can still be strong. Right?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 21
Kudos: 83





	1. strong

“You must be quicker!”

Kagami’s feet skipped over the ground as she moved forward, barely avoiding a stumble in her fifth hour of training.

“Sharper!”

The blade cut through the air, first one way, then another. Kagami focused on keeping her arm steady as a tremble threatened to break.

“Stronger!” Tomoe Tsurugi’s staff shot out in front of her daughter, sending Kagami flying into the dirt. “Hmm.”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Kagami said, brushing off her clothes as she stood.

“That’s enough for today. Let’s go.” Tomoe rose from the park bench and started towards the car. Kagami followed silently.

Before long, they were pulling up at the Grand Palais. Tomoe commanded the car to take Kagami back to their house, but the girl had learned a few tricks over the years. After Tomoe had gotten out, Kagami changed the car’s course to a nearby park.

It was where she’d agreed to meet with Adrien for their date - he’d texted her about it earlier, and she said yes, of course. Even if she had to sneak under her mother’s nose, it would be worth it to see her boyfriend. Just the thought of him brought a small smile to Kagami’s face.

Adrien Agreste was sunshine personified. Before him, everyone else in Kagami’s life had been carefully curated for a specific purpose - mentor, teacher, caregiver. But Adrien was a breath of fresh air on a heavy summer’s day, the first drop of rain in a drought. He brought light to the still grayness that Kagami had been existing in before she met him.

Stepping onto the street, Kagami spotted Adrien sitting on a bench, waiting for her. The smile on her face grew wider as she made a beeline towards her target.

He looked up at the sound of her footsteps. Their eyes met, dark brown and glittering green. Kagami’s smile grew impossibly wider, and Adrien offered her a small smile in return. As she sat down next to him, his smile faded and his brow crinkled.

“Hello, Adrien,” Kagami greeted as their hands slid together. His hold was warm and familiar, their palms flush against each other.

“Kagami,” Adrien returned. Then he cleared his throat. “Um.”

“Is there something you wish to tell me?” Kagami turned to look at him, sensing … something in his voice.

“Yes,” Adrien breathed, “actually, there is. I. Um.”

Kagami raised her brows at him encouragingly. “What is it, Adrien? You know you can tell me anything - no matter what, we’ll get through it together.” Over their time spent together, she’d gotten better at communicating her true feelings to her boyfriend, a fact that he was proud of her for, she knew.

“Um,” Adrien began, “Kagami. I ...” With a sharp exhale, Adrien glanced away and gave her hand a squeeze.

Kagami Tsurugi wasn’t blind - she saw the signs. Still, like a fool in love, she dared to hope … but even hope cannot last forever.

“I’d like to break up.”

The words were soft, as Adrien’s words always were. Kagami stared down at her shoes, black leather shining in the light that filtered through the leaves above. Adrien kept talking in that soft, light voice of his.

“You’ve been the perfect girlfriend, and our relationship has been great, I’ve really enjoyed all the time we’ve spent together. If you want, I’d like to continue being friends! You’re a wonderful person, Kagami, really, but … this just doesn’t feel right anymore.”

Kagami pressed her lips together, forcing down the stinging burn that threatened to creep up her throat. “Please … I don’t know what I did wrong, but we can fix this.” She turned to him, clutching his hand tighter. “Please, Adrien.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said, and then Kagami couldn’t blink the tears away any longer. “I’m sorry,” he continued as she fruitlessly wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, “I hope you can forgive me someday.”

Adrien rose to his feet, letting go of her hand, and Kagami reached for the handkerchief she carried in her pocket.

“You’re the strongest, Kagami,” he whispered, and then he was walking away.

Kagami couldn’t help watching his retreating back as he made his way through the park, pausing at the street corner, and then disappearing into Marinette’s bakery.

_ “Do you ever get the feeling that you’re stuck, Kagami? That no matter what you do, it’s the same old story over and over again? That things will never, ever change?” _

Kagami lowered her gaze to her feet again. Adrien was wrong - she wasn’t the strongest. She wasn’t even close to being strong. Because if she was, in fact, strong, Kagami Tsurugi would have known not to pursue someone who would never target their affections at her - not all the way.

On her walk back home, the skies grew darker, storm clouds blocking out the rays of the sun. Kagami sighed - it would be just her luck to get rained on, the cherry on top of an impossibly dreadful day. Well, at the very least, it would match her mood.


	2. cold blooded creatures

One week later found Kagami sitting on the steps of the Trocadero. She was supposed to be at fencing, but she didn’t feel like it - it held too many memories of Adrien.

So instead, Kagami found a relatively quiet place to just sit for a while - not too far of a walk from the academy, of course. The Trocadero was nice and sunny, and had just the right amount of people chattering to drown out her thoughts.

It was the only reprieve she had from the words that had been bouncing around in her head since they fell from Adrien’s mouth.

_You’re the strongest, Kagami._

As if.

“Sup,” a voice said, and Kagami was once again jolted from her mind. She looked to her left to see a boy.

He was a familiar boy - she recognized him as one of Adrien’s friends from school. If she remembered correctly, Marinette had said something once about this boy dating one of Marinette’s friends, Alya. Of course, none of those things answered the question of what the boy was doing there - sitting beside her, someone closer to a stranger than an acquaintance. Not to mention what he’d said as he sat - “sup,” a term she’d come to learn was an abbreviated version of the phrase “what’s up,” which was a question friends asked each other in a more casual way of asking how they were doing. Either Kagami’s ears were deceiving her, or the boy had merely hiccuped.

“You’re Kagami, right?” The boy continued when she didn’t respond - Kagami was pretty sure his name began with an N. Ned, perhaps?

“Yes,” Kagami replied. And then, after a slight pause, “It’s nice to see you again.” They both felt the remark ring insincere, and she winced.

“Yeah,” the boy said, giving her a sidelong glance. “Um, I heard what happened with Adrien … sucks, dude.”

“It cannot be helped,” Kagami said, facing forward once more. “Adrien has made his choice. As long as he is happy.”

The boy hummed in response.

“Nino!” A new voice called, and Kagami and the boy turned to see a figure approaching.

_Ah,_ Kagami remembered, _Nino._ That _was his name!_

“There you are,” the newcomer continued, reaching them. Nino was rising to his feet, and Kagami did the same - it felt rude not to.

“Hey, babe,” Nino said, and Kagami assumed this must be his partner, Alya.

“You ready to go?” Alya asked Nino, giving Kagami a weird look.

Kagami gave each of them a nod of acknowledgement and moved to leave - fencing would be ending soon, and she had to get back to the school in order to keep up appearances for her mother.

“Um,” Nino said as he watched Kagami go. Alya wrinkled a brow in confusion, and then suddenly, she got it. In unison, they turned in slight horror.

Kagami was none the wiser as she approached the entrance to the Trocadero. She passed a mother with a stroller, an elderly couple taking a walk - and Adrien and Marinette, holding hands and smiling and gazing into each other’s eyes lovingly.

Her steps faltered for only a moment before Kagami averted her eyes and quickened her pace. The happy couple didn’t notice her go by.

* * *

Another week had passed, and Kagami did not return to the Trocadero. Instead, she found solace on the banks of the Seine, and while the water didn’t exactly match the constant chatter of tourists and Parisians, it did lull her into a sense of tranquility.

That is, until the screeching greeted her ears.

Jarred from her calm, Kagami’s eyes flew open to see a rather garish boat making its way down the river. It was a familiar boat - it belonged to the Couffaine family, and Kagami had been aboard on multiple occasions.

The source of the screech appeared to be the eldest of the Couffaine children, the blue haired guitarist named Luka. His sister, the one with long purple hair - Kagami had never been able to catch her name, try as she might - was chewing him out for the feedback in the loudest tones Kagami had ever heard her speak in.

The Couffaine houseboat docked right in front of where Kagami was sitting, and she watched as Luka’s purple-haired sibling apparently kicked him off the boat, guitar and all. He walked the plank to the shore, turned around and presumably made a face. His sibling stuck out a tongue at him in reply.

Luka Couffaine turned and caught sight of Kagami. She gave him a curt nod, and he began walking over to her before sitting beside her on the bench.

“Hey, Kagami,” he said, adjusting his guitar, “what are you doing here?”

“Hello, Luka. How are you?”

If he noticed her evading his question, he didn’t remark on it. “Moping, according to my sister,” he said, and plucked a chord on his guitar. “Sorry about the whole thing with Adrien.”

“It's alright,” Kagami told him. “I heard you and Marinette broke up as well?”

He nodded sadly, another melancholy note ringing through the air. “Yeah. I was sad, but I know it’s the right thing to do - the song in her heart doesn’t sing for me anymore, it never really did. But I’m grateful for the time we spent together.” A smile lit up his face as he kept playing his sad melody.

Kagami gave a little hum in response. She sat with him for a while longer, listening to his music and the lapping of the Seine before she eventually got up and made her way back to the school.

* * *

“So,” Chloé Bourgeois began, straddling the back of her chair in a rather un-ladylike manner, “you’re having boy trouble.”

Kagami almost choked on her drink - but she forced down the swallow and looked at one of the few people in the room her age.

They were at a state function, held, of course, at the Grand Paris - only the best for the best. Bureaucrats and celebrities and executives milled around in their finest, networking and negotiating and sipping glasses of champagne. Occasionally, Tomoe or Andrè would call their respective children over to show off to whoever it was they were talking to, and Kagami and Chloé would give the crowd a winning smile and get cooed over. For now, though, they seemed to have no duties being seen and not heard.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Kagami said, taking another sip of sparkling water.

“Sure, you don’t,” Chloé retorted, her tone dripping with sarcasm like an overfilled beehive with honey. “Are you still friends with Marinette?”

“... I’m not sure,” Kagami admitted. “I haven’t spoken to her since Adrien and I broke up.”

Chloé sipped from her own glass - whether it had alcohol in it or not, Kagami didn’t know. “And how are _you_ faring, Tsurugi?”

Kagami pressed her lips together. Over time, she and Chloé had grown to become … well, not friends but not mere acquaintances, so, somewhere in between the two, she supposed. “I’m fine.”

“I call bull,” Chloé said in a singsong voice, “tell me the truth.”

“I’m fine, really,” Kagami told her. Chloé fixed her with a stare.

“We’re talking about Adrien Agreste here,” Chloé said, “he’s my best friend, and he’s dating the girl I hate - and I can tell you I am most certainly not fine. And since this is Adrien Agreste we’re talking about, and you two were each other’s first boyfriend and girlfriend, and he broke up with you to date your friend, I’m willing to bet that, no, actually, you’re not fine.”

Kagami exhaled sharply. “What do you want me to tell you?” She said, her voice low.

Chloé hummed thoughtfully. “Well, knowing Adrien, I’m thinking he probably tried to soften the blow by spewing what he thought was something kind. And knowing you, I’m thinking whatever he said is eating you up inside.”

Kagami wondered how Chloé got to be so good at reading people - and then she remembered who her parents were. “Yes, fine, you’re right.”

“What did he say?”

_You’re the strongest, Kagami._

She ground out the words as loudly as she could manage, which was a soft whisper, and Chloé nodded as she glanced away, allowing Kagami to blink furiously.

“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Chloé said, and then she knocked back the rest of her drink. Kagami was beginning to suspect that it did, indeed, have alcohol in it. “Now, if I were anyone else, I’d probably spout some bull about how you already have inner strength and you don’t need a man - but let’s be honest, it’s more fun to have some arm candy that it is to not.”

Kagami shrugged in lieu of a response, and Chloé began lamenting about how that one lady over there was wearing a necklace she had wanted, but the store had run out before she could place her order and hers wouldn’t come in for another two days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> turtles, snakes, and bees are all, in fact, cold-blooded.


	3. strength

Tomoe Tsurugi did not consider herself a kind person. Merciful, yes, and certainly just - but not kind. It had taken her years to build invisible armour around herself, a coldness in the tilt of her head and an impossible maze around her heart that not even her own flesh and blood could breech. Above all, Tomoe thought herself a strong woman - she was a Tsurugi, and whether that be by blood or by marriage, no Tsurugi in the history of Tsurugis had been anything but strong.

Still, there was a difference between being strong and possessing strength - and the amount of difference it made depended on the person.

Tomoe listened to her daughter’s footsteps as she walked around her quarters. Kagami’s footfalls were heavy and uncertain - something was troubling the girl. Tomoe sipped at her tea.

Before long, her door was opening. “Mother?”

“Kagami. Come in, sit down.” Tomoe nodded in her general direction. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to ask you,” Kagami began, never one to hesitate - something Tomoe had taught her, “about love?”

Tomoe brought the cup back down to the table, a stern frown overtaking her features. “ _Love?!_ Hmph.” Where to begin, the matriarch wondered. “Love … it is a double edged sword. It can be a source of great happiness, but also of pain - love has no guarantee, and I feel it is too often not worth the risk. Be careful where you place your faith - I find that men are more often disappointing than they are not, though your grandmother likes to spout proverbs about finding inner love before seeking it in someone else. Why?”

“No reason, mother,” Kagami replied, and they conversed for a moment more about her studies before she left. Her footfalls were just as heavy on her way out as they had been when she’d come in.

**Some time later**

“Mme. Tsurugi,” Gabriel Agreste said in that cold, simpering way of his. Tomoe imagined him to look like a weasel - short, pale ~~fur~~ hair, cool eyes, and too slippery to pin in one place unless permanently.

“M. Agreste,” she returned. “I heard Adrien found himself another girlfriend.”

“Yes,” the man said snippily, “he has. I hope you understand it wasn’t personal?”

“Of course I understand such things.” Tomoe drew herself up straighter. “I also have a teenager living under my roof, you’ll remember, and so I am used to their flightful whimsies.” It was true - as collected as Kagami was, even she tended to have slight lapses in judgement. Ah, the teenaged mind was truly a wonder.

“I hope this will not affect our agreement,” Agreste Senior said.

“It will not,” Tomoe conceded, wondering when he would leave so she could talk to his assistant and get something done other than formal pleasantries.

A few hours later found Tomoe back at her home, and she could hear Kagami walking around the kitchen. Her footsteps were considerably lighter than they had been that morning. Tomoe began working her way through the halls.

“Hello, mother,” Kagami greeted as Tomoe made her way over the threshold. “Would you like some tea?”

“No, thank you, Kagami,” Tomoe replied, making her way to the table and taking a seat.

She knew it was unlikely that her daughter had found some semblance of comfort in her words when she’d asked her about  _ love, _ of all things, but Tomoe hoped that Kagami had remembered them in the dissolution of the relationship between the Tsurugi and Agreste heirs. At least she was moving with more agility now, instead of the oafish footsteps Tomoe had resigned herself to hearing over the past month.

She sat and waited as Kagami continued to bustle around the kitchen, preparing tea. After a while, her daughter sat down at the table.

If Tomoe was to be honest with herself, she was proud of Kagami. Her daughter persevered in her studies and was making quite a name for herself in the world of fencing. Tomoe was sure that her daughter would go on to accomplish great things - she was, after all, a Tsurugi.

“Mother?” Kagami spoke up.

“Yes, Kagami?” Tomoe replied.

“May I go visit the Louvre? I’ve finished with my schoolwork for the day.”

“Yes, take the car and be back in time for dinner.”

“Thank you, mother.”

Tomoe listened to Kagami’s footsteps fade away a few minutes later. Yes, her daughter would go on to do great things.

* * *

Kagami walked down the stairs, heading for the people who were waiting for her. Two heads of hair, one dark and one light, were huddled together, peering at the screen of a phone.

At Kagami’s footsteps, they looked up.

“Hey, Kagami,” Adrien called, smiling tentatively. Marinette slipped her phone into the bag she always carried, also offering a small smile.

“Adrien, Marinette,” Kagami greeted, giving them each a nod. “You requested a meeting?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, wincing. “We, um, wanted to talk with you. Why don’t we go this way ...” he trailed off, leading their little group towards one of the many benches placed along the walls.

“We wanted to just talk with you and make sure there aren’t any hard feelings,” Marinette said, looking more worried than Kagami had ever seen her.

Kagami stared at them, a dead silence hanging in the air.

“I just,” Adrien began, and Marinette gave him an encouraging look and placed her hand over his. He took it, giving her a smile before turning back to Kagami. “I know we didn’t really end on the best of terms, and I’m sorry if I hu-”

“It’s fine, Adrien,” Kagami said, and then she broke her façade to give them a smile - a skill she’d mastered with time and practice. “I’m happy for you two, really.”

“So...you’re not mad at us?” Marinette squeaked.

Kagami shook her head. “No. I’ll admit that it did sting a little, at first. But I now understand that you two make each other happy, happier than Adrien and I would have been together. I’m glad that you’re together, finally.”

Both Marinette and Adrien’s eyes widened at her last statement.

“Um-”

“What do you mean, ‘finally’?”

A pause.

“I think I’ll be going now,” Kagami said, getting to her feet. “Marinette, are you free to meet for juice on Saturday?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, “I’ll see you there - same time as usual?”

Kagami nodded. “I look forward to continuing our tradition. Adrien, I’ll see you in fencing class on Friday?” Adrien nodded, giving her a grin and a thumbs-up. “Goodbye for now, then.”

Kagami left them to themselves as she decided to go for a stroll and check out the new exhibits.

As she passed a painting depicting Joan of Arc, she was reminded of Adrien’s words on that sunny day long ago -  _ “You’re the strongest, Kagami.” _ Today, it brought another small smile to her face.

For all her life, she had been surrounded by strength - her mother, her teachers, and more recently, her friends. Now, she knew what it truly meant - not being the strongest fencer, or the fastest to solve an equation, or the one who was fine to always be the one walking alone when the road was too narrow to permit three people side-by-side. True strength was smiling in the retreat of sorrow, and stepping out into the sun after a heavy rain.

True strength, Kagami thought to herself, was taking the next step.

And so she did.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, constructive crit and comments are welcome.


End file.
